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Oilcan 2.1

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PostgreSQL query tool. Free

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Spanware

OilCan is a Universal Binary Mac OS X PostgreSQL query tool.

Features:

All queries run in their own threads and are able to be cancelled.
Multiple query windows with each query window getting its own connection
Native Cocoa and PostgreSQL performance
Multiple queries in the query window
Basic Database Browser

OilCan is open source under a BSD License. For source and development status, go to the source page.

What's New

Version 2.1:

Browser automatically refreshes after changes made in the query window.
A refresh button is available in the Database Browser for changes made outside of OilCan.
The status bar at the bottom now gives result information about non SELECT queries.
Double clicking in the Database Browser inserts the TABLE, VIEW, FUNCTION, or SEQUENCE name in the query window. Double clicking on a field will insert the field name in the query window.
Ability to drag items from the Database Browser to the query window.
Login information can be sorted by Name, Database, or Host.

Version 2.1:

Browser automatically refreshes after changes made in the query window.
A refresh button is available in the Database Browser for changes made outside of OilCan.
The status bar at the bottom now gives result information about non SELECT queries.
Double clicking in the Database Browser inserts the TABLE, VIEW, FUNCTION, or SEQUENCE name in the query window. Double more...

Requirements
PPC / Intel, Mac OS X 10.4 or later.

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Oilcan User Discussion (Write a Review)

ver. 2.x:

(1)

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+45

Peter da Silva reviewed on 18 Jan 2008

This is useful, but the user interface feels incomplete and it's missing a couple of features that, right now, mean that the "psql" command line is actually more useful.

* There is no feedback from commands like "drop view" in the query window or any feedback from the browser (like, refreshing and showing the view is gone).

* There is no way to refresh the browser except by switching namespaces.

* There is no way to copy the name of a table or view from the browser to the query window.

I am not a Mac user interface expert, but ideally you should be able to both copy the name of the selected object or column to the clipboard, and drag a column or table name to the query window. Failing that, a menu for "copy name" would suffice.

Also, the results of command queries should be available, not just the tuples.

[Version 2.0]

3 Replies

Spanware, Inc (developer) replied on 18 Jan 2008

Good points. There are a few key things missing from the program. I have used a lot of TOAD before, and the one thing I wanted was the ability to write a lot of select queries (preferably threaded), using just keystrokes if possible.

Look for actual database management features in the next full version. The refresh option is something that I had pegged but it slipped through the cracks.

Thanks for the feedback. It was very constructive.

+45

Peter da Silva replied on 18 Jan 2008

As far as creating queries algorithmically goes, that's a big part of what I've been doing for the past three years, doing things like automatically creating tables from SNMP MIBs and HTML forms and C structures (and vice versa in the latter two cases). There's a lot of low hanging fruit there, but I didn't want to get stuck into you about that because your description did say it wasn't aiming to be a query generator.

(that kind of thing is also tremendously fun :-> )

I found the Smalltalk browser and the iTunes smart playlists to be really great sources of ideas.

Oh, one more point I forgot to add:

* Clicking on a column header should sort by that column.

Spanware, Inc (developer) replied on 18 Jan 2008

The main goal was to address the lack of quick querying in pgAdmin, which I use for everything else, because it is really good.

I have already added the refresh button on the database browser. Feedback for nonselect queries should be done by the end of the weekend.

The sorting by column is trickier because I leave the result in the native structure that the Postgres API gives it in. I was playing around with a version that copies the result into an array for that very purpose.

Do me a favor, Pete. Email me directly at david@spanware.com with any other feedback or suggestions. I would appreciate a very sophisticated user/developer as yourself, if you are willing.

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